Stephen Dunmoye
Super Eagles of Nigeria have dropped from 39th to 40th place in the latest FIFA Coca-Cola world ranking.
The latest ranking was released on Thursday on FIFA’s website.
Despite hammering Sao Tome and Principe 6-0, in their final 2023 AFCON qualifier, the result did not have any positive effect on the ranking.
In Africa, the Eagles are currently sixth behind Morocco (1st), Senegal (2nd), Tunisia (3rd), Algeria (4th) and Egypt (5th).
The Eagles’ 2026 FIFA World Cup Group C qualifying opponents did not fare much better either.
Lesotho, who will visit Nigeria in their first game of the qualifiers in November, dropped to 152.
South Africa and Benin Republic dropped to 65 and 94 places respectively while Zimbabwe stayed at 125 and Rwanda also remained at 139.
Also, Saudi Arabia, who will play the Eagles in a friendly in October, dropped to 57 spot.
Following a 1-0 triumph over Ecuador and 3-0 away success against Bolivia in their opening FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers, Argentina tighten their grip at the summit of the ranking.
Second place France lose some ground on Argentina after suffering a 2-1 friendly defeat against Germany.
Meanwhile, Brazil (3rd), England (4th) and Belgium (5th) retain their places in a top five that remains unchanged from the July 2023 edition of the global ranking.
The leading pack are followed by Croatia (6th), the Netherlands (7th) and Portugal (8th), the only team amongst the top ten to climb a position.
Italy (9th) slip down a spot after having been held to a 1-1 draw away to North Macedonia in the sides’ UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier. The top-ten line-up is completed by Spain.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 26 October.
